email archiving and compliance

Email Archiving and Compliance

What is an email archive?

It is an automatic means of recording the details and content of every email sent or received by an organisation in a tamper proof and auditable manner.

An appropriate email archive should enable you to ensure compliance with government guidelines and internationally published codes of good practice, including:

BSI 7799
BSI PD00008, PD0010, PD5000
Data Protection Act
RIP (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000)
Employment Law
SEC 17a
Encourage adherence to company email usage policy
Ensure maximum legal admissibility and evidential weight

The email archiving mechanism should also help manage the problem of increasing email storage requirements and provide a means of searching and retrieving archived email.

Who needs email archiving?

Any organisation that

Regularly exchanges contractual or sensitive documentation
Could be the subject of Subject Access Requests
Is required to maintain records and data over a number of years
Needs to maintain a reliable record of communication in case of future litigation
Has large message stores which are difficult and time consuming to backup
Has users constantly exceeding email storage quotas
Almost any organisation would benefit from the deployment of an email archive. However it is particularly applicable to organisations in the following market sectors: Finance, Construction, Police, Health, Government, Local Government, Legal, Defence companies.

What solution does ecommnet recommend?

ecommnet offers three alternatives:
Cryoserver from Corporate Internet
ArchiveStore/EM™, from Connected Corporation
MessageArchive, from IntelliReach

It is not possible to state that any one of these solutions is the best for all organisations. Our recommendation would depend on a balance of relevant factors; including:

Your existing mail infrastructure e.g.
- MS-Exchange
- teamware
- Domino / Notes
- Groupwise
Your willingness (or otherwise) to implement a database for the archive
Your available budget
Your organisation's size
The relative importance to your organisation of discovery, message management and compliance
Email client integration requirements

Our approach is to consult with you to assess how all of the above aspects affect your organisation. We would then make a recommendation as to which of these solutions optimally meets your requirements. Please fill in our feedback form if you would like to know more.

To find out more and to discuss email archiving for your organisation please contact us

In the meantime review our compelling reasons to choose ArchiveStore/EM rather than KVS Enterprise Vault or EAS for your email archiving requirements

Email Archiving and FOI

If you are a Local Authority or other Regulated Body you should read our article on your responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act.

Obligations for Public Authorities To comply with The Freedom of Information Act 30th November 2000.

Legislation & Email Archiving : an update
Executive Summary
Key aspects of the act
Code of practise on 'The Management of Records by Public Authorities'
Questions to ask your email administrators
References

Related Issues

Email archiving & Compliance

Compelling reasons to choose ArchiveStore/EM rather than KVS Enterprise Vault or EAS for your email archiving requirements

E-mail as Evidence

Read Robert Campbell and Stephen Mason's article on email archiving and the the use of e-mail as evidence

FREE COPY

Email and the Internet

If you would like a free copy of Stephen Mason's excellent book "Email & The Internet"
please click here